Facelifted EcoSport’s Pre-Launch Buzz Fuels Hefty Discounts For Outgoing Version
As Ford India gears up to roll out the facelifted version of its EcoSport SUV, its dealers are offering heavy discounts of upto Rs. 1 lakh depending on the variants. While discounts rates vary from dealer to dealer and variant to variant, a price reduction of at least Rs. 30,000 is offered on any trim. While a handful of dealers in Delhi & NCR are offering a price cut of Rs. 30,000 on Trend, Rs. 50,000 on Trend+, a few of them are offering the Titanium variant atleast Rs. 70,000-1,00,000 less than its on-road price.
A dealer source on condition of anonymity said, “Our customers are asking us the booking dates for the new EcoSport which is expected soon. However, there is a lot of unsold inventory of the outgoing version. Therefore, we are enticing our customers by offering huge discounts and freebies on what is available with us. As a stock clearing exercise, any customer walking into our dealerships is assured of a Rs. 30,000 discount on the MRP. For certain variants like Titanium, we don’t mind offering a discount to the tune of Rs. 1 lakh.”
Meanwhile, American carmaker is reportedly gearing up to commence bookings for the EcoSport facelift on November 9 with deliveries expected only from January 2018. The sub-4 meter vehicle, which will qualify for excise duty benefits, will be taking on Maruti Vitara Brezza, Honda W-RV, Tata Nexon, Mahindra TUV300 and Hyundai's upcoming Carlino-based model (expected by 2018/19). It has been learnt that the American car giant’s dealership sales representatives are yet to be trained at its Chennai plant for the said model. While the price of the upcoming version of the model is yet not known, industry analysts claim that it won’t be too expensive than the outgoing version.
It is being speculated that the 2018 EcoSport will be powered by a new 1.5-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine derived from the Dragon series (mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed automatic transmission) that can generate a power output of 125bhp and a peak torque of 150Nm. The other option will be a 1.5-litre turbocharged TDCi diesel engine (mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox) that develops 98.6bhp of maximum power and 205Nm of peak torque. The EcoBoost version may also be sold against confirmed bookings.
The 2018 EcoSport will be having several cosmetic changes such as Ford's signature hexagonal grille apart from reworked headlamps and foglamps. The interiors will also be updated with a reformed center console, an 8-inch touch-screen infotainment system synched with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a new steering wheel, and a finetuned instrument cluster. It is expected to be equipped with Cruise Control, Speed Limiter function, Rear-View Parking Camera, Hill Start Assist, among others.
When queried about the upcoming EcoSport, the official spokesperson of Ford India maintained, “We cannot talk about our future product plans. What we can confirm is that there is an interesting product coming up very shortly.”
Meantime, media reports suggest that Ford might is considering the sportier Ford EcoSport S
